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Do you think all the people featured on your pages are insane?
Unfortunately not, many are just bold people who don't just knee
jerk follow the crowd. Some of them may be obsessive or just happen
to have strange views or very focused interests. I'm sure some, I've simply
miscategorized, others are just mocking real nuts.
Are these pages all serious. No. Some like the flat earth society or the Hell page are probably more joke pages done by just slightly wacky people either for fun or just to shake people up a bit. Many people who leave phony monster tracks, tie flares to balloons or make crop circles like to just start a controversy and then sit back and watch other people go nuts. Bizarre stuff is popular - my crackpot pages are far more popular that my other pages
Why do you track this kind of stuff. Maybe because I'm
a little strange myself. I've studied all kinds of rational stuff.
I understand physics and regular real stuff, after a number of years, it
gets boring. I find it interesting to see the offbeat meaning of
the lives of others.
I can appreciate the energy of people who feel that they alone have
the truth and are out to save all humanity.
Don't people get offended that you list them as crackpots?
Actually they are used to people thinking they are nuts and often appreciate
the extra publicity I give them. A few try to convince me
the world really will end this year or what ever. None have threatened
me for listing them.
How do you know that some of the people you make fun of aren't on
to something amazing?
You can't - that's what makes it fun? Many are more smart
than I. For some, it takes a while to tell they are nuts - other's can
appear insane before you finish their first sentence.
Isn't there at least someone who is into something wild that you
think really is important?
Yes, I think the proto-science of
memetics is both radical and on the level. I also think
the Frank Salaway theory that birth order predicts personality type has
merit. Some conspiracy theories may have merit for all I know.
How can people avoid getting sucked into this stuff?
For crack pots themselves, I think they are genetically predisposed
to weirdness or insanity. Lithium, prozac and newer brain moderating
drugs may be the only hope. But for their followers: the first line
of defense against nonsense is critical thinking skills. I feel no
one teaches this better than the
skeptics movement. Another solution, is don't spend money on
fringe stuff - otherwise you fall in the
"cognitive dissonance" trap of finding it easier to move in deeper
than admit you wasted a lot of money.
==================================
how to goof on believers in the paranormal for fun and profit.
I don't advocate any of these
things: I've just heard
of them as techniques for whacky
people to have fun getting
the gullible all excited.
Make a pair of monster shoes for rainy
days. just use
a band saw to cut out monster footprint shoes
to strap
on regular shoes and go out on baseball diamonds
or
muddy areas during a rain. Take very large
bounding steps.
crop circles: you really shouldn't
do these in farm fields.
They still can be done in regular fields.
It can be done
easily with sticks and string in regular fields
having
gone fallow.
hook up a set of LED's powered by hearing aid
batteries
to balloons at night time. People will
think they are
moving in patterns. Make sure to weigh
the balloon
enough to not rise too quickly. Make a
note of prevailing
air currents. It could be a real hoot if
launched over
some nighttime public event.